The winner will be announced at the Football League Awards gala ceremony at The Brewery in London on Sunday.
The final shortlist was drawn up from votes cast by the league's managers.
Bantams skipper Jones, 35, is in his first season at Valley Parade, but has been a virtual ever-present in the engine room for Phil Parkinson's side this season and was instrumental in their historic giant-killing run to Wembley in the Capital One Cup final.
Grecians striker Cureton, 37, has struck 20 goals this season for Paul Tisdale's promotion-hopefuls to leave him second in the goalscoring charts.
Striker Pope, 27, is the division's leading scorer with 27 goals in all competitions - 25 of them coming in league action - although he has failed to score in his last 11 outings for Vale.
